Janet Rabinowitch appointed new director of Indiana University Press

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- After a remarkable 29-year career as sponsoring editor, senior sponsoring editor, editorial director and interim director of Indiana University Press, Janet Rabinowitch has been chosen to take over its helm. Her appointment as director was approved by the IU Board of Trustees at its August meeting.

Rabinowitch is the fourth director and first woman to head IU Press, which was founded 53 years ago and is among the country's largest public university presses.

An undergraduate French major at Wellesley College, Rabinowitch went on to earn her doctorate in Russian studies at Georgetown University. She joined Indiana University Press as an editor in 1975, after working as a translator and scholar. She became one of the most distinguished editors in the field of Russian and Eastern European studies. Rabinowitch was honored with the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Women in Slavic Studies in 2000. The IU Russian and East European Institute bestowed its Distinguished Service Award upon her in 1997.

Rabinowitch has acquired over 500 titles. In addition to Russian and Eastern European studies, she established internationally respected lists for Indiana in Jewish and Holocaust studies, African studies, Middle Eastern studies and continental philosophy. Many of her books have won prestigious awards, including the Vucinich Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, the Herskovits Award from the African Studies Association, the National Jewish Book Award, the Austrian Cultural Institute Prize and the Koret Jewish Book Award. They have been designated as Outstanding Academic Books by Choice magazine, a publication of the American Library Association, and chosen as selections of the History, Reader's Subscription and Jewish book clubs. A number of her books have been translated and published in Russia, Germany, Israel and Japan.

Rabinowitch has spearheaded collaborations between IU Press and such important cultural institutions as the U.S. Holocaust Museum, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. She is currently serving a three-year term on the board of directors of the Association of American University Presses.

"We are lucky to have Janet as the director of IU Press," said Kenneth R.R. Gros Louis, senior vice president for academic affairs and Bloomington chancellor. "I know that she will lead IU Press into a new era of excellence while continuing the good work of her predecessors. Janet understands the value of IU Press and the important role it plays at Indiana University."

"I am honored to have been selected as the next director of Indiana University Press," Rabinowitch said. "This is a challenging but also a potentially exciting time for all university presses, and I am looking forward to working with my talented colleagues as we embark on our next 50 years as an institution. My goals for Indiana University Press are that it continue to serve scholarly publishing at its highest level and play a vital role in the intellectual life of the university, and the cultural life of the state and region."